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The old town of Altdorf is situated at an altitude of 458 m on an elevated site a little above the right bank of the river Reuss, not far above the point where this river is joined on the right by the Schächen torrent. Altdorf is the capital of the Swiss canton Uri and has a population of about 8,650 (2003).

According to the popular legend, Altdorf is the place where Wilhelm Tell was forced to shoot the apple from his son's head after he had refused to greet the hat of Hermann Gessler, bailiff of "Schwyz and Uri". Historically, there never was a bailiff of that name in either in Schwyz or Uri. However, there are several members of a family called Gessler who had served the Habsburgs. A Heinrich Gessler in 1375 actually became bailiff on Grüningen castle in canton Zurich. The popular story became the basis for Friedrich Schiller's play "Wilhelm Tell" (1804), which itself became the basis for Gioacchino Rossini's opera "Guglielmo Tell" (1823).

The monument for Wilhelm Tell [left] was created in 1882–1895 by the sculptor Richard Kissling. The bronze statue was cast by Frères Thiebaud company in Paris. The monument is the fourth statue of Tell that was erected in Altdorf. The earliest statue was already created in 1567 and was placed on one of two stone fountains which marked the legendary places of Tell and his son.

[http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altdorf_(UR), http://www.tell.ch/schweiz/telldenkmal.htm]